Employment Lawyer

Job summary

NCA Legal comprises of the following teams:

Data and Operational Advisory Team, Civil Litigation Team, Financial Disruptions Litigation Team, Disruptive Actions Litigation Team and Commercial and Employment Law Team.

This vacancy is for an employment lawyer in the Commercial and Employment Law Team, focused on advising on employment matters only. The employment work is varied and challenging, ranging from advising on complex disciplinary matters and grievances to managing employment tribunals, including advising on matters with a national security aspect.

Virtual Event

To find out more about the role and the application process we will be holding a virtual open evening via MS Teams on Tuesday 6th October 2026 at 1800 to 1900 hours.

This event is by invitation only.

To register, please click on the following link

Virtual Event - Employment Lawyer

You will be asked for your name and email address.

Registration will close at midday on 5th October 2026

You will not be able to register after this date and time.

Job description

As an employment lawyer you will provide legal advice on a range of contentious and non-contentious employment matters. This includes advising on the following areas:

Policy and Trade Union Consultation - Advising HR colleagues on policy development and assisting with drafting policy wording to ensure the NCA's employment related policies are legally compliant. Advising in respect of engagement with the Trade Unions regarding the same.

Workforce planning, including recruitment - Support HR with legal advice to enable the implementation of the Agency's strategic vision for its workforce.

Individual employment matters - Providing legal advice to HR specialists on complex issues relating to staff such as in relation to sickness management and ill health retirement.

Grievances and employment tribunals - Advising decision-makers on grievances and leading for Legal on overseeing the defence of employment tribunal proceedings, which may involve complex and sensitive national security matters.

Disciplinary and misconduct matters - Advising the Professional Standards Unit on the application of the NCA (Complaints and Misconduct Regulations) 2013 to enable conduct matters to be effectively and efficiently managed, and advising disciplinary panels.

Pensions - Advising Finance in respect of any pension disputes as well as key changes in pension legislation to facilitate the management of NCA staff with police pensions in particular.

Person specification

You will be expected to use your legal skills and judgement to contribute to the strategic direction of the NCA by providing specialist employment law advice across all areas of the Agency. You will need to be able to think creatively to help manage legal risk in cases that are often novel, complex and challenging.

Flexible Working

This role operates under a hybrid working model, offering flexibility between office-based and remote working.

However, permanent homeworking is not available. Successful candidates will be expected to attend the office as required and undertake court attendance where necessary as part of their duties, in line with the NCA's hybrid working policy.

Qualifications

To apply for this role you must be either

(a) a Solicitor or Barrister qualified to practise in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, with significant relevant experience; or
(b) Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales, with significant relevant experience. Upon appointment, Barristers and Solicitors qualified in Northern Ireland will be registered by the NCA with their respective professional bodies in England & Wales, to enable them to practise in both jurisdictions.

You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEx. Professional entry criteria for Chartered Legal Executives (i.e. Fellows): Chartered Legal Executives are eligible to apply where (i) a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) is held; or (ii) the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) / Common Professional Examination (CPE) has been completed; or (iii) where exams have been passed (i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved), at CILEx Level 6, in all of the following seven foundation subjects in law:

1. Criminal Law
2. Equity and Trusts
3. Law of the European Union
4. Obligations 1 (Contract)
5. Obligations 2 (Tort)
6. Property / Land Law
7. Public Law (Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Human Rights Law)

Additionally, Chartered Legal Executives may need a Practice Rights Certificate depending on the role.

Please ensure the dates of any accreditations you are relying on, are entered on to your CV.

Solicitors should also include their roll number.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Significant and strong employment law knowledge and experience.
• The ability to think strategically and creatively, seeing legal issues in their wider context.
• Legal Professional Skills with a sound understanding of public law, reliable judgement and appreciation of legal risk.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,179, National Crime Agency contributes £20,330 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

New entrants to the NCA receive 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 on completion of 5 years continuous service, plus 8 bank holidays.

If qualifying criteria is met new joiners from UK Police Forces or the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) will have service with those employers taken into account for continuous service purposes for annual leave entitlement only, this will be up to a maximum of 31 days leave (including 1 privilege day).

Other benefits include:

• Flexible working, including flexi-time, compressed hours and job sharing (in line with business requirements)
• Family friendly policies, notably above the statutory minimum
• Learning and Development opportunities
• Interest free loans and advances, including season tickets, childcare and rental deposits
• Housing schemes - Key Worker status
• Discounts and Savings with a wide variety of services including Cycle to Work, Smart Tech schemes, dental insurance, gym discounts and savings on everyday spending, available through the Reward Gateway , Edenred and Blue Light Card schemes.
• Staff support groups/networks
• Sports and social activities, including membership to the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC)

Further information is available on the NCA Website.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial int